With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Attention Readers: Find Us in Your Mailbox Soon

With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Tower boys basketball sweeps MAC Gold individual awards

Warren Woods Tower senior wing Lee Veasley drives to the basket during a Feb. 25 playoff game. Veasley has been named MVP of the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division.

Photo by Sarah Purlee

WARREN — When Nick Evola took over the Warren Woods Tower boys basketball program prior to the start of the 2011 season, he set a goal of a consistently successful program that was always a factor in division title races.

This season, Evola led the team to its first division championship since 2010, finishing atop the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division with a 7-3 mark. For his work, he earned MAC Gold Coach of the Year honors.

That’s not the only award the team garnered, as senior wing Lee Veasley played his way to the MAC Gold MVP award.

“I’m very humbled to get selected as Coach of the Year by the great group of coaches in our league,” said Evola, who guided the Titans to a 14-9 overall record and an appearance in a Division 1 district final. “I have to give a lot of credit to all the guys on our team for the work they have been putting in throughout the season. This award doesn’t happen without them.”

Veasley was a big part of that. The senior was a key catalyst in an offensive attack that put up 61.5 points per game — good for 10th in the 35-team MAC.

Veasley was appreciative of the honor, calling it a testament to his dedication. He credited Evola for instilling a strong work ethic in him.

“All of my hard work paid off — on and off the court,” Veasley said. “But this team was able to win the division title because of our consistency in practice every day, getting after it and coming together as one.”

Evola said Veasley was deserving of the honor.

“Without a group effort, though, these individual awards wouldn’t be possible,” the coach added.

The division title was just the fourth in program history. Evola said some very good teams fell just short of raising a banner. This year’s team, Evola said, was an unselfish group.

“They play for each other and are willing to do their part to help the team be successful,” Evola said of his players. “They followed the lead of the guys who came before them, and I think that’s what ultimately got us over the hump and gave us the opportunity to win the (MAC Gold) title this year.”

The success the team saw this season has raised the bar, Evola said.

“I think one goal is to continue to change our mindset on how we approach practice and prepare for games,” Evola said. “We need to set some specific standards of how we want to play, and we need to focus on those standards daily and playing the right way. If we do those things — and focus on the process and doing things right — then I feel the winning and success will take care of itself.”